Ooni of Ife: Traditional Council Brief Gov Rauf Aregbesola

The Ile-Ife Royal Traditional Council yesterday met Governor Rauf Aregbesola over the passing on of the Ooni of Ife, Okunade Sijwuade.

The governor’s meeting with the chiefs lasted 10 minutes.

It was held behind closed-doors at the governor’s office at Oke Fia, Osogbo, the Osun state capital.

However, neither the chief nor the state government issued a statement at the end of it.

The Royal Traditional Council members were led by the Lowa of Ife, Joseph Ijaodola, along with the secretary of the body, Adetoye Odewole.

Also present at the meeting were top Osun State government officials and the senator representing Ife/Ijesa Senatorial district, Babajide Omoworare who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business.

It was thought that the chiefs would use the opportunity to break the news of the death of the monarch to the governor, but they did not, instead they insisted that the Ooni was alive.

Chief Ijaodola told Governor Aregbesola that they were at his residence to update him about happenings concerning Oba Sijuwade and expressed regret that the Ooni was often a target of negative publicity with the press declaring him dead several times in the past.

“We were all shocked when we heard the rumour,” he said. “If at all such an incident had occurred, the traditional council would be the first to know and equally break the news to the entire public.

“Sixteen of us are his chiefs and when he was travelling out, he didn’t look like he was going to die; and should that have happened to him, we would have been informed even before anyone would hear about it. We pray that Ooni Sijuwade will live long in good health.”

Aregbesola, in his response, commended the chiefs for holding forte while the Sijuwade was away.

He prayed for sound health and long life for Oba Sijuwade and then went into a closed-door meeting with the chiefs.

 Battle for Succession

Despite the denial by the Ile-Ife Royal Traditional Council, the battle for succession has assumed an interesting dimension in the ancient city.

A member of the Osinkola ruling house phoned LEADERSHIP Friday, saying the battle for who succeeds “the present Ooni is not limited to the Ademiluyi royal family.”

He said anyone from any of the four ruling houses in the ancient city could emerge the next Ooni.

There are four ruling houses in Ile-Ife, namely Lafogido, Giesi, Ogbooru and Osinkola.

The prince said the Osinkola dynasty produced Sijuwade’s predecessors.

“Oba Adesoji Aderemi was my uncle. He was my father’s younger brother. I am Prince Adeyemo and the duo’s youngest sibling was Adewuyi”, the retired director in the federal civil service who spoke on condition of anonymity stated.

 Oba Sijuwade is from the Ogboru ruling house

Our source, while not ruling out the Ademiluyis from the contest, said they are a branch of the Lafogido ruling dynasty, adding that “when the time comes, we will know who the next Ooni will be.”

There was no rotational arrangement for succession to the throne until the Ooni stool was gazetted in 1956 during the reign of Sijuwade’s predecessor, Oba Aderemi.

The road to succession may be open to all the princes in the land and that may be a challenge for the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola when the announcement is formally made.

Traditionally, in Yorubaland, it is unheard of and, indeed, a taboo for anybody to aspire to the throne of a sitting monarch. Hence, nobody wantsto be identified with such aspiration.

Announcement May Be Made This Weekend

There are indications that after the meeting of the RTC with Aregbesola, the formal announcement of Oba Sijuwade’s death could be made this weekend.

There has been no formal announcement of the death of Oba Sijuwade, who was reportedly flown, unconscious, in an air ambulance to London last week from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

When Sijuwade’s predecessor, Oba Adesoji Aderemi, ‘ascended onto the loft’ on July 3, 1980, his death was not announced until July 7, 1980, as demanded by the tradition of Ile-Ife where about 401 deities are worshipped all-year round.

Immediately after the death of Ooni, it is expected that the Sookolekun, who is the head of the Ife princes, is saddled with the responsibility of informing the traditional council officially.

The traditional council will then carry out some cultural and traditional rites before the death of the monarch is announced to the public.

The council, after declaring the demise to the public, will then declare the markets in the ancient town closed and a seven-day mourning period.

It is expected that all the property of the late monarch must have been removed from the palace before the announcement of the death, as whatever was left of his property belongs to the palace immediately his demise was announced.

The revelation of the ‘ascension into the loft’ of Oba Sijuwade underscored the waning influence of traditional ethos in the age of the social media, citizen journalism and information super-highway.

Ooni’s Body Not In London Hospital

The remains of the revered Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, are not in St. Mary’s Royal Hospital in Paddington, London, LEADERSHIP Friday can authoritatively reveal.

The hospital said yesterday that it did not have in its database the name of Okunade Sijuwade when our correspondent called to enquire at 6:58pm.

“Spell out the name and let me check the system”, a female receptionist said at the Patients Enquiries Desk.

After what looked like was a thorough check of the patients on admission and in the morgue, the lady who did not disclose her name politely said, “I am sorry, we have no such name on the database.”

LEADERSHIP Friday had enquired from the hospital where the royal father was reportedly taken amid an air of uncertainty over his passing.

There has been no denial that the man was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, London, by either the immediate family or the palace chiefs of the Ooni.